After her spouse died, a woman wrote in her journal: “I feel like I’m a hamster on a wheel going round and round but going nowhere. Even though Steve died 10 months ago, I still feel like it happened only yesterday. I just can’t stop thinking about him. What is this strange thing called grief?”

Sooner or later everyone loses to death someone they love. Yet, most people are unprepared for the tidal wave of grief that follows a loss. Here are some common sense answers to the problem of grief.

Q. What is grief?

A. Grief is the emotional reaction that follows loss. The most common cause of grief is the death of a loved one. However, other losses — separation, divorce, disability, job loss, etc. — also trigger grief.

• Social withdrawal — not wanting to be with people or attend social events.

It must be emphasized these normal aspects of grief are not permanent. The intensity eases for the majority of grievers who adjust and adapt.

Q. How long does grief last?

A. Generally, most people experience grief relief by 30 months. However, the duration of grief does not have a fixed end point. Michael C. Miller, M.D., editor-in-chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter writes “grief doesn’t neatly conclude at the six month or one year mark. . . . Although it may persist, grief does usually soften and change over time.

How this goes will be influenced by your emotional style, the nature of your support system, and the culture you are part of. Usually the raw, all-consuming shock of early grief will ebb slowly within weeks or months. Gradually at their own pace, most people do find themselves adjusting to the loss and slipping back into the routines of daily life.”

Q. A friend told me I should be over this by now. Am I grieving incorrectly?

A. No. Moving through grief takes much longer than most people assume. Harold Ivan Smith, a bereavement expert and author of several grief books, says grievers live in a “get-over-it, move-on-with it world.”

Many friends “assume a grief should last about 30 days. Some of our friends may have never experienced the death of a close family member; they have no real understanding of what you are experiencing,” Dr. Smith says. Focus on your grief. Ignore any comments from those who want to rush you through the process.

Q. Are there stages of grief?

A.No, but there are generally four tasks which need to be accomplished in order to have a successful grief recovery:

1) Accept the reality of the loss. This means fully understanding your loved one has died, is not, and will no longer be part of your daily life.

2) Allow yourself to feel the pain of the loss; pain is part of healing. When there is a loss to death, grievers must allow themselves to experience the variety of intense feelings connected to it.

3) Adjust to a new reality. Death brings new changes and challenges. Grievers have to take on new roles.

4) Adapt to a different life. Grievers need to move on, loosen ties to the deceased, retain memories but invest time and energy in new relationships.

Q. Why do I find myself dreading holidays?

A. Most grievers find holidays difficult because there is an “empty chair,” but also anniversaries, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and so on. Here are effective ways to manage these:

• Plan ahead. How will you spend the day? With whom?

• Talk-about your deceased loved one. This will let others know that you want to hear your loved one’s name and to talk about that person.

• Establish personal priorities. Decide what you want to do, how you wish to celebrate, and with whom you wish to spend time. Follow your instincts.

• Express your feelings. If holidays make you more weepy, then cry. If you feel the need to talk about the loss, find a good friend who will listen.

• Value your memories. You loved, and the price of losing a loved one is pain. Cherish the time you had together and value precious memories, which can never be taken away from you.

• Reach out to others. Take the focus off yourself and your pain by helping another person.

• Avoid isolating yourself. Just because you are in pain, do not cut yourself off from others. Stay in touch. Keep communication open with family, friends and colleagues. Accept some invitations for social events, even if you do not feel like it. Be hopeful and optimistic. Many find that holidays or special days are not as bad as they had anticipated.

Q. I’ve been told not to “get emotional.” Is it wrong to show sadness?

A. Feelings need to be acknowledged, not pushed away. Do not allow others to dictate how you will feel and what emotions you can express. The death of a loved one impacts our emotions. We feel sad. We feel vulnerable. These are normal grief responses. As various feelings and emotions come up, accept them with compassion and kindness rather than with fear and frustration.

Q. Is it OK to cry?

A. Yes it is, though some grievers hesitate to cry because this is frightening to others and even to themselves. Writer Cindy Horyza shares this insight: “People are so afraid that if they start to cry they won’t quit. Trust me, no one has ever died of crying. Flowers need lots of water to bloom and sometimes we do, too.”

Q. What can I do to help myself get through grief?

A. The best things you can do include: Get physical exercise (go to the gym, take a long walk, run, or bike ride). Physical activity sheds stress as well as weight. Eat balanced nutritious meals (stay away from junk food). Avoiding alcohol and drugs (these simply delay grief recovery).

Most important, exercise your faith. Read and reflect on Scriptures such as Psalm 147:3 — “God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 34:18 — “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (NIV). Meditate silently. Pray, and don’t hesitate to pray for yourself, asking God to give you daily strength.

Q. How can I help a grieving friend?

A. One woman, who experienced the death of a child, answers: “I have learned that there are many ‘right’ things to do. But there is only one grievous and commonplace ‘wrong’ thing to do, and that is nothing.” As soon as you know a friend has lost a loved one, be there. Listen with compassion. Avoid offering trite clichés. Here are ways of speaking helpfully to one in grief:

• Say this must feel as though the pain will never end, instead of time heals everything.

• Say this must be very painful right now, rather than try to see the good in this situation.

• Say your loved one is no longer suffering, but I’m sure you are, rather than your loved one is better off now.

• Say this must be very hard for you, instead of God never gives us more than we can handle.

• Say it’s okay to cry, rather than don’t cry.

• Say I can’t imagine how you feel, instead of I know just how you feel.

• Say I want to help any way I can, rather than everything’s going to be OK.

• Say I’ll call later this week to see if there is any way I can help, instead of call me if there’s anything I can do.

• Say it’s hard to know why this happened, instead of this was for the best.

Q. When is mourning finished?

A. In his book, Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy, Dr. William Worden offers this answer: “One benchmark of a completed grief reaction is when the person is able to think of the deceased without pain. There is always a sense of sadness when you think of someone that you have loved and lost, but it is a different kind of sadness — it lacks the wrenching quality it previously had. . . .Also, mourning is finished when a person can reinvest his or her emotions back into life and into the living.”

Rev. Parachin, an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), writes from Tulsa, Okla.

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